WARNING: This post contains rumors and speculation from Android Insiders. If you do not want to know why the Samsung Nexus S was delayed then do not read this story and unplug from the Internets. You have been warned — the goods are after the jump.

The Rumor

Everything we reported about the Nexus S or “Nexus Two” was correct, but the phone was scrapped at the last minute when someone decided it needed to feature a dual-core processor in order to compete with the Tegra 2 phones coming out in early January. Samsung has already delivered new Nexus S units to testers with the upgraded processors, but Android 2.3 was not optimized for dual-core hardware and this is the reason for the delay.

The Source

As with most rumor reports, these sources wish to remain anonymous. I spoke with two people today who have handled the Samsung Nexus phones and provided previous information about it which all turned out to be accurate (minus the launch dates caused by the delay). A third source also confirmed information about the issues Google was having with dual-core hardware running Android 2.3.

One Android Insider’s take on the rumor

There is a lot to digest here, so let’s recap what already occurred today. Best Buy was supposed to launch the Nexus S on November 11th and that is the reason all of the Best Buy leaks occurred at once. Those leaks came from Best Buy employees that were digging through their network and discovered some materials related to the original launch date of November 11th.

The only problem is that the original Nexus S was scrapped and thus a lot of the details about the phone today are no longer correct.

The first Nexus One with no Google branding.

Next we got pictures of the Nexus S from Engadget and the phone we saw is 100% real. Clark noticed that the pics were edited at some point and it turns out he was correct because the first couple batches of these phones did not have the Google logo on them. It was added after the pic was taken to make the phone look real.

Remember the original Nexus Ones from last year that Google gave out to employees which didn’t have any branding on them? That is exactly what happened with this year’s phone that was given to Googlers.

So who would edit a picture of a non-final Nexus S and mock it up so it appeared like it would be the retail version? And why did this person decide to release the pics to Engadget on the same day that the phone was supposed to launch? I’ve heard a lot of different theories, but I believe this was a Samsung orchestrated leak to ensure the buzz kept growing even though they knew the product had been delayed.

Speaking of the delay, this is where the story gets good. The original Nexus S was ready to be announced on November 8th and go on sale November 11th, but someone high up pulled the plug at the last minute after hearing reports that testers were not impressed with the hardware specs.

We reported that the original Nexus S was basically an overclocked Galaxy S and it turns out that as pretty accurate.

Now Samsung has chosen to go with a dual-core processor, which we didn’t really expect to see till January. Testers with access to the Nexus S have reported seeing two versions of the phone which look fairly similar but the old one is single-core and the new one is dual-core.

I would love to tell you which dual-core processor is inside the Nexus S now, but I do not have that information. We only know that NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 is virtually ready, but the other wild card is Samsung’s Orion processor.

When the Orion was announced back in September, Samsung said it would be available to “select customers” in the fourth quarter but we haven’t heard much until today. The dual-core Orion was spotted at the ARM Technology Conference this week and it is said to be in production, but I’m not totally confident that is what’s inside the Nexus S.

So we don’t know who is supplying the dual-core processor, but that is most definitely the “serious hardware issue” that TechCrunch reported had caused the delay. Android 2.3 and the Nexus S are tied together and were meant to be launched at the same time, but Android 2.3 was not optimized for dual-core hardware.

I know I’m dumbing things down, but Samsung has basically three options:

Release single-core phone with single-core software

Release dual-core phone with single-core software

Release dual-core phone with dual-core software

Option 1 was thrown out the window because Samsung and everyone else knows that dual-core phones will be unveiled on January 5th. It is a tough sell to move a bunch of single-core phones when the tech-savvy customers who might purchase them know that the next generation is just within reach.

Option 2 sounds the most likely at this point and it matches stories I’ve heard about other dual-core smartphones. Samsung could decide to ship the phone with a version of the OS that does not support dual-core so they can still get it out in time for the holidays. After the phone is launched, an over the air software update would “enable” the second core with a new firmware.

Option 3 sounds like the best choice, but timing issues might kill this plan. Google thought they were finished with Android 2.3 and that’s why they broke out the huge Gingerbread man, but now the team is being called back to get everything optimized for dual-core hardware. I believe they could get everything working, but so many potential selling days (or weeks) would be lost that this is unlikely.

Whatever happens, Google wants to ship Android 2.3 this year but they are waiting on Samsung and the Nexus S. I see no way that this phone and Android 2.3 could slip to next year because then it would get in the way of Google’s tablet push in Q1.

I can read your minds so I think I should also say that Honeycomb (Android 3.0) is optimized for dual-core hardware but that version of Android is initially planned for tablets and is not designed to run on the Nexus S. Two different teams were working on Gingerbread and Honeycomb at the same time and that is the reason why they have such close release dates.

In closing, the Nexus S is still real, it has been upgraded to a dual-core processor, and I believe it will ship this year with support for T-Mobile (and possibly more carriers). Since the original version of the Nexus S was scrapped, assume that all of the rumored hardware specs are subject to change and there could be some more surprises coming.

Feedback

I wouldn’t be posting this article unless I believed the information to be accurate. There really is no benefit to a blogger making up or posting false information because it would hurt their credibility and drive readers away from their respected site. The Android blogosphere is a pretty tight-knit group and we try our best to keep each other in check. There are certain people who have been doing this for awhile now, like Rob Jackson of Phandroid or Phil Nickinson of Android Central, and when they break a big story you should assume the information they are reporting is truthful to the best of their knowledge.

I have yet to play with an actual Nexus S, but I trust the information that I was provided is accurate based on my relationships with the sources. A lot of these inside sources are always going to remain anonymous (which I know some of you hate), so you should examine the actual post author and their record.

For example, when Chris Ziegler of Engadget posted the new flagship Samsung phone we believed his post to be truthful and shared it with our readers right away. I saw that some people thought Clark was calling out Chris over the photoshopped Nexus S pics, but that was never his intention. Clark simply noticed the pics had been edited and wanted to know why someone would do that before leaking them to Engadget. It was a good thing Clark asked the question, because one of our sources chimed in and provided the answer.

We are all addicted to gadgets and that’s why we enjoy blogging. I find it extremely entertaining to see how these big companies compete (and the means they take) which is why I’m more excited than ever to be covering Android. I know the Samsung execs read this blog (and many others) and they are always trying to one-up their competition.

Now that Samsung has leaked their dual-core phone, I fully expect to see similar leaks from LG, HTC, and Motorola so you will get excited about their upcoming dual-core stuff and maybe decide to wait. It is all a big game, but that is why Android is winning the mobile wars. Apple will continue to release a new iPhone once a year, but Google has the best tech companies in the world all competing at once to see who can top each other with the next big thing.

If you were expecting that maybe the pace of innovation would slow down, buckle up and enjoy the ride. The Android products coming out in Q1 2011 are going to bring lots of smiles to all the gadget fans out there.

Taylor is the founder of Android and Me. He resides in Dallas and carries the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and HTC One as his daily devices. Ask him a question on Twitter or Google+ and he is likely to respond. | Ethics statement

Most Tweeted This Week

I guess aa guy can dream.. just when u posted that the nexus two wasn’t going to be announced in the other post I was the 1st to comment.. maybe for a dual core?… hope I was right

http://Website Mark

I can bet my left nut that this phone isn’t coming till mid June at least.

http://www.youtube.com/emogamer Christopher Chavez

Alright. I’m gonna remember you said this…. =)

http://Website Joe

Hopefully your new name will be NUTLESS

http://news.netapex.org NetApex

Nah, we will just call him “Righty”

http://Website Benjamin

Darn it. And I *just* bought my MyTouch 4G last week. I sure hope they announce something solid soon so I know whether to return it and hang on to my N1 a bit longer.

http://OrganizedFellow.com OrganizedFellow

You have some time to return it.
14 days, I think?

http://Website Benjamin

Actually I have a full 30 days to return it. I bought it on release day (11/03/10) so I have till the 2nd of December I guess to return it. After that I’d have to eBay it or something. I’m expecting some sort of concrete specs, possible price point, and at least rumored release date by then so I’ll know if/when to return my MyTouch 4G.

http://adomanico01.blogspot.com/ Anthony Domanico

I mean, either way there’s going to be something better than the mytouch 4G within 6 months. The nexus should be more than enough to keep you happy until then.

jivemaster

Yep. You def should have waited. The Nexus S story keeps getting more and more epic and is a must have.

http://Website Kevin

As long as the phone says “Samsung” you did the right thing. Keep your MyTouch. You will be kicking yourself if you return it for any Samsung Mobile product, no matter what the hardware specs are. Hardware is meaningless when the Vendor sucks as bad as Samsung Mobile does.

http://Website Will

Um, if this phone is in fact the successor to the Nexus One, Samsung’s past discrepancies with regard to Android updates will be of no consequence; Nexus devices get their carrier-independant updates directly from Google, and ALWAYS before any other device. HTC didn’t release a single update for the Nexus One, and I wouldn’t expect anything to change with Samsung.

http://Website J.

I could not agree more! Anyone still keeping Samsung in the phone/lying busniess will no doubt regret keepi
inng anything put out by Samsung.

http://Website Tommy3141

I was very excited about the Nexus S for all the right reasons, but the fact that it is a Samsung is a killer for me. Sure wish it were a Motorola. Good RF and GPS performance trumps all kinds of features in my book. Excitement gone – question Google’s decisions – gonna take a nap.

Gone

This is a dream come true!!! Nexus S and Google FTW!!!

http://Website Yash

Very detailed article and answers a lot of questions… Can’t wait for this phone to come out!

http://Website jonathan from los angeles

so it looks like this phone will probably be hspa+ capable. cant wait!

Im still guessing this phone will come out during thanksgiving week or 1-2 weeks after thanksgiving week

ar318307

As awesome as it all sounds, I just can’t get that excited. Why?
All this awesome new technology and dual-core stuff sounds cool and all, but if there’s no innovation and no improvement in battery technology, what use is all this stuff?

Sure, faster phones = Yummy. But if the phone is only going to give me 2-4 hours of usage, there’s no way I could justify purchasing it. Currently I will get around 2-4 hrs of heavy usage out of my Samsung Vibrant. I mean, I’m a college student and all my days are divided into hour blocks where I know exactly where I’ll be at any given moment. My normal schedule involves me waking up at 10 A.M to go to Statistics class. So, I usually leave my apartment at 10:50A.M to walk to class. During class I’m that guy who seldom pays attention (I honestly can’t learn math during class, I have to sit down and learn it on my own), so I sit in the back of the class and read Engadget, Gizmodo, and Android and Me during that hour. So essentially, my phone has the brightness turned all the way down, and I do nothing with the phone for that hour except use the web browser. I do no downloads or uploads, just strict reading of articles. By the time the class is over (it’s only a one hour class, ends at noon), my phone is usually down to 65-70%. After *one* hour of nothing but web browsing. My day is just starting and my phone has already lost half of its charge. That sucks.

Now, I read tech blogs just about every day, and thus far I have not seen news on any advancement in battery technology. Like, at all.

Assuming these phones are right around the corner, can we expect them to be carrying the same batteries these companies put in current generation phones? If so, are we almost to the point where these phones will last maybe 2 hours of “normal” usage?

I just don’t understand why battery tech seems to have stagnated. Aren’t processors booming right now because of the smart-phone wars? Why aren’t batteries?

Any thoughts?

http://androidandme.com Taylor Wimberly

Qi is the advancement in battery tech you have been waiting on. I got the full scoop coming up next week.

http://Website James

Oo i’d like to read about qi, only heard a little about it so it’ll be interesting

http://Website Dennis

That’s exactly what I always think! It’s useless that we can’t use all this awesome and great technology in our phones. I mean we always have to turn down brightness or turn off 3G or 4G and even after all that phone management by 11 am, your phone is already down to like 50% just on web browsing alone. I’m not asking for much but I want to be able to charge my phone once and not worry about looking for another wall outlet for at least two days. That would be really great but I know I’m asking for too much.

http://Website Richard Needham

I love this stuff!

http://FreshXFresh.com 2FR35H

You make very good points andalso might I add you may learn some math if you put your android down for that hour LOL

to the main issue I agree battery improvements need to happen and are bound to because even Tablets nowadays are suffering horrible life. Of course some updates to android OS starts to make battery better but then the hardware changes and gets even more powerful.

http://Website FastRedPonyCar

Buy a 2nd battery. Seriously that’s what I’ve done. I’m still rocking the original mytouch3G rooted and overclocked and the average day, I get maybe 6 good hours of use from it with the brightness set low.

I have a charging stand by my bed that the phone sits in the cradle charging and has a 2nd slot where a spare battery goes to charge. Both batteries are fully charged when I wake up.

Minor inconvenience? yes. But worth the slight hassle of a battery swap/reboot once a day? Most definitely.

These dual core phones are just what I’m waiting for. I’ve been patiently holding out for far too long…

http://www.youtube.com/emogamer Christopher Chavez

I totally wouldn’t mind having a dual-core phone w/ software that only uses a single-core. I would rather have the phone in my hands and receive update later. That would be better than waiting even LONGER with nothing =/

This is all very good news. I can’t even imagine the power of a double Hummingbird all the way across the sky….

http://Website Kevin

Wrong.. With Samsung having to wait on anything means, 6 months. So while you have your single threaded OS on a dual core phone waiting on Samsung to deliver, HTC, LG and the rest would have released their dual core phones months ago. Oh, and Cyanogen and his crew would have rooted other phones days after their launch and run their latest ROM while you will still be waiting on that community to get anything stable on your Samsung many months after the release. Oh, but you can get mods for it on XDA………………..and have a phone that is so unstable it…… you get the idea. Never, ever, count on Samsung doing anything right. they haven’t yet.

http://Website Balthazar B

@Kevin
The driving force behind this phone is that you won’t need to wait on Samsung for anything, except perhaps driver upgrades where their record isn’t too bad. Android updates will come early and often directly from Google (see Nexus One history for how this works). So unless you don’t like the aesthetics of the phone, or are holding out (as I am) for a global phone on the Verizon network, there’s no reason not to like this device based on this article especially.

http://Website John

Nice phone, but this “orchestrated leak” didn’t make the mainstream news. The crappy budget Android phones cluttering the market and incompetent manufacturers and carriers marketing them is sad. I doubt any future Android releases will be an “event”.

http://androidandme.com Taylor Wimberly

How many early adopters do you think get tech info from the mainstream news sites before they go out and make their next gadget purchase?

http://Website maximus

A lot of people… they are called iPhone users that listen to daddy Jobs and the news to buy their next phone.

http://Website James

WOW! What an article,
I love these kind of reports!!
Keep it up Androidandme!

Also one thing i thought of might be that google could be redesigning 2.3 or maybe 3.0 for dual cores so that they have more of a control with the future devices coming so that they meet a minimum.
But one thing i feel that is weird. If the Nexus S is supposed to be a sequel to the Nexus One in pushing the hardware further for other manufacturers to catch up, then if the Samsung made hardware is being pushed on the Nexus S, how are other manufacturers going to follow up on these standards when for example, Samsung only has enough to supply their own products such as the SAMOLED. Thats why i believe the Nexus One was good at what it did as HTC does not use anything of their own as they donot make their own hardware but using other hardware such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon as it is much more accessible.
Of Course other manufacturers can just use more future generation hardware but dont you feel that poses a problem? But i guess if they are going to use tegra instead of their Orion, that would make more sense in this case.

P.S. This post might not make sense because i was writing continuously as ideas came to my head but as long as you get the main point :D

http://Website Balthazar B

Good questions. No doubt SAMOLED2 will be a Samsung-only thing for a while, but it will inspire progress on other screen technologies (where non-pentiles may have an advantage anyway), and unless Samsung puts their Orion package in the phone, they’ll probably be using a part freely available to other manufacturers.

http://Website Brian

Wow. The author clearly subscribes to the “let’s combine every rumor into a giant story of awesomeness” school of journalism. This is an *amazing* article. ^^

http://adomanico01.blogspot.com/ Anthony Domanico

Haters gonna hate.

PhineasJW

Having the lack of a dual-core processor be the “hardware problem” that was previously reported, would be the *best* possible scenario. And it makes sense as well. It would be fairly silly to launch a single core flagship phone so close to the dual-core revolution.

The only thing I disagree with is your characterization that Honeycomb is not designed to run on the Nexus S. I think you’ve misinterpreted something or gotten bad information.

Honeycomb should start the big UI changes we’ve been waiting for since Matias Duarte joined Google. It had damn well better run flawlessly on the Nexus S. The alternative would frankly be ridiculous.

And don’t let the haters get you down Taylor. The rumors are fantastic. I love that we’re on the cusp of some major announcements. It feels like Christmas every day.

Cheers.

http://Website miguel

I don’t care if it has 3 damn cores… if its not HSPA+ (4G) compatible than its already antiquated. Putting a front camera on a 3G phone is not innovative.

http://androidandme.com Taylor Wimberly

That is exactly the reason that I assume all future “superphones” will support some type of “4G” network like LTE, HSPA+, or WiMAX. I too would be disappointed if the Nexus S turns out to only be a 3G device.

Snafu77

I don’t think we’ll see any more high-end Android phones dropping that don’t include high-end radios. It kills a major selling point for the carriers and their pseudo 4G speeds.

http://Website Gee

I said this else where but if a Sprint version comes out, it WILL have WiMax. There’s is no way that Sprint will allow a high end phone without WiMax and no $10 “premium” fee. Samsung already has the experience with the Epic 4G so it’s entirely possible.

http://Website warrenbzf

I read somewhere that Sprint was removing that $10 fee soon.

http://Website GregS

if you look at the leaked Samsung ‘Flagship phone’ document, it says: 14.4Mbps HSDPA / 5.76Mbps HSUPA. For the BB Samsung S leaked specs, I think everyone was keying in on the HSUPA number for no 4G when it actually looks like it will support 14.4 speeds (same as the G2/MT4G).

You are getting the “android issues with dual cores” wrong (or at least overrated).

Android, by being based on Linux, is already capable of multithreading and thus able to use a dual core setup (indeed, it is advisable to code for multithreading, if not compulsory). You are right in one thing: there are some internal quirks that can be improved for a dual core setup, but none of them are roadblocks or even a “serious issue”.

I’m not an insider, just a programmer, take this as you wish :)

Snafu77

I don’t think he’s wrong at all. The issue can very serious if you’re looking at launching a new piece of hardware and an operating system in a short period of time and have to suddenly switch the kernel and system apps to support dual core.
I suspect the phone will drop with one core in use unless Google’s Android team squared away a great deal in preparation of supporting the new Tegra2 phones. It isn’t just the two CortexA9′s there’s also the graphics chip and the 1080p video support.

http://androidandme.com Taylor Wimberly

Makes sense to me. This would support the theory that Samsung is using a CPU other than Tegra and needs more time to get the GPU, etc. drivers up to speed.

It’s just that up until now, with a single core CPU, the processor ping-pongs back and forth between threads.

If there’s a problem with multithreading, it’s with the driver for that particular chipset: Orion or Tegra 2, not with the Gingerbread OS itself.

http://Website Jon Scruggs

Um … I use Linux as my main desktop and have used Gentoo Linux, which requires the compilation of your own kernel. This is what the Phone Makers using Android need to do … select what they want and compile it. In the GNU/Linux Kernel configuration, there are several options for multi-core/-processor setups. Even if you have a multi-core CPU and you do not select the options to tell the kernel that you have multi-core, it will not use both cores and only use one core/processor. the number of Tux logos on boot up tells you how many cores/processors are in use by the kernel (one logo per core/processor). The computer will still be multi-threaded, but not multi-core. There’s a big difference. ;)

So …. point being, they could compile the Android Kernel with support for only one processor, but still have it multi-threaded. ;) This could even be what the issue … there may not have been the kernel option to select multi-core since Android is a customized version of GNU/Linux, the devs may have modified it in a way to make it easier for Phone Makers to compile, as in less options that were not available to the phones of that time.

I too am a programmer and a Gentoo Linux User, so I know what I am saying. ;) Precompiled Distributions have those multi-core/processor options already checked for you. I know from experience when I have forgotten those options in the kernel I compiled from my desktop all those years ago, and I have not forgotten about that so I remember to do that for newer ones.

Hope this sheds some light.

http://Website warrenbzf

Perhaps they need to update the UI for outputting in true multi-monitor mode. That is something the Tegra 2 brings to the table for the first time, and probably most A9 CPU’s for that matter.

http://Website Siddharth

I might be stating the obvious but does this mean that the launch of Gingerbread which was to coincide with the launch of the Nexus S will also be delayed?? Cmon google! Release the single-core software for the single-core Nexus One already!

http://Website CHOBiE

If it’s gonna be delayed that long then they should just put Honeycomb in it.

http://Website Rubrewskey

That won’t happen because they’re saving honeycomb for their tablets in Q1.

http://schwiz.net schwiz

I hope that whenever the N2 comes it has the signature multicolored trackpad. I don’t like these Galaxy S models don’t even have a LED notification at all!

Prince77

Well in my mind, all this should have been thought out before they start spreading the news about it. I guess all you Samsung slurpers will continue to do it until you realize they don’t know what they are doing at that company

http://Website ANDEEE

I don’t even know what you are trying to say by the way

http://Website Sticky Monkey

Until carriers lower their prices, I can’t justify getting any of these new phones, no matter how good they are. I can’t see paying over $100/mo for service on any phone, ever. $50? That would be more like it.

If carriers would focus on being….carriers…then they could probably afford to cut their prices. But no, they want to be phone providers, content providers, app providers, etc, etc.

M3rc Nate

What carrier do you have? Tmobile has the lowest prices, Sprint has their $59.99 everything unlimited (i believe dont quote) and well Verizon is notorious for being the most expensive of all the carriers. Everyone pays what they put out as options…they are cellphones, everyone has one, so even under conditions where all they do is be a carrier, why would they cut prices? that means cutting profits..and no company in America is going to on purpose cut their own profits. “Hmm we make HOW MUCH?! Whoa! we need to cut that..start saving our customers some money!” If a CEO ever said that he would get sacked.

And anyways getting one of these “new phones” is easy…i waited a week after G2 launch and it was $99 bucks at Costco. Vibrant was 1 penny on Amazon not long after it released, and now its buy one get one free for the Vibrant. There are tons of deals, you dont HAVE to preorder the phones for the full $200 bucks. Wait a month and get it for half that.

http://Website Sticky Monkey

Um, I’m not really worried about the subsidized price of the phone…I’m more concerned with the $1500-2500 over the course of the contract.

http://adomanico01.blogspot.com/ Anthony Domanico

Then don’t get a smartphone.

http://Website Sticky Monkey

Well, I don’t have a smartphone for a reason. I’m one of those weird people who likes to live well within my means, and save for the future. Would I like a smartphone? Yes. Am I going to get one at the current prices? Nah. Also, getting a “better job” wouldn’t change my mind. I don’t think I would pay current prices even if I was a millionaire. Sorry if that means I’m not worthy of your approbation.

http://androidandme.com Taylor Wimberly

Owning a smartphone can actually save you money.

http://Website Mast3rShake

Stop being cheap or get a better job. If you can’t afford a smartphone you probably don’t need it. Sorry, the truth hurts. The best things are reserved for those who can afford them, not anyone who feels entitled to them.

http://Website zymo

hold on! so you say we going to see a dual core samsung nexus s running stock android? maybe with improved hardware, like recording 1080p?!
Christmas bells have never been so loud :)

M3rc Nate

Im less concerned with recording 1080P then having the manufacturers (HTC, Samsung etc…) make high quality cameras and put them in their phones. It definitely seems that camera phone technology is decent, but high quality pictures/video elude 95% of Smartphones. I dont need a 12mega pixel and 1080P camera on my G2, i would be totally fine with 5MP and 720P as long as it was GREAT quality, the pictures are crisp and clear and the video doesnt have any grain or saturation issues and all that “heres why ur video/picture sucks:” stuff.

Snafu77

You’re just not going to get that level of quality in a product like a phone yet. If you want GREAT quality pics and video spend that $599 on a T1i.

M3rc Nate

Haha, well i already own a T2i but thanks. My point isnt for Smartphones to be on the DLSR level, thats crazy for now. I just mean from what i hear, the Iphone has always had a amazing camera. That it takes top tier pictures/video for being a smartphone. And often i see smartphone cameras compared to the iphone as the gold standard, and almost always they dont compare (im not a iphone fan boy, and i dont THINK the reviewers are either).

Overall what i mean is on a techblog seeing a review of a smartphone that costs someone $200 on contract, like $599 without contract…and they are saying the pictures are sub-standard and the video is decent at best…its just sad.

Overall i just want quality over quantity of MP and HD resolution.
Like i said, a amazing 5MP and 720P over a decent/lackluster 10MP and 1080P

http://Website Lucian Armasu

Yeah, besides are you going to shoot an ad with your phone or something? Why owuld you need 1080p on your phone right now? You would only be able to shoot like 5 minutes of video before the internal storage or sd card they give you fills up. I’m glad all phones will have 720p video recording, but 1080p is mostly a gimmick for now. Perhaps it will be more useful in a few years.

Same for the camera. You won’t notice a difference between a 5 MP picture and a 8 MP camera on your computer. They should better focus on putting in better sensors and lenses, and give the cameras higher ISO for low light pictures.

http://Website mikey

Stunned. I don’t kniow whether to go to sleep stay up all night or go to best buy and start the line.

http://Website alex

Good work as always Taylor.

I’m amazed someone high up realized that the hardware needed to be better in order to carry the nexus name and that they puller the trigger to make it happen.

I cannot wait for this new phone and hope qi is implemented into it and the battery life is outstanding.

It looks like Google has finally got things right with the nexus s. It will do what the nexus one did, and showcase vanilla Android and all the things that are possible. As long as Google advertises this baby like Verizon advertises their Droid lineup, this phone will rock.

http://Website josh

As much as I love hearing about the nexus s Taylor,

I’d like to hear about gingerbread from these sources testing the phone, as well.

http://Website Aakash

OMG! i forgot to breathe while i was reading the article…. Awesome. But SAMSUNG/GOOGLE do let us wait too much.

http://Website Valerio

GOOD! I was initially unimpressed at the original specs of the device. I was already considering waiting till next year for a device worthy of replacing my N1. I believed not even $200 was worth upgrading to this from my N1 considering better options were gonna be available early next year for the same price range. Only thing I’m concerned about now is if they are gonna make this a HSPA+ device. I mean, why the f&$k not? The first model didnt support it. It would be soooooo stupid not to include this. And, the screen res. I prefer a 3.7 screen with a 480 x 800 res than a 4.0 with the same resolution. Its a more crisp looking experience. Since its a 4.0 screen, the res better accomidate bitches. Oh oh, before I forget, Samsung, this is for you. STOP BEING CHEAP WITH YOUR CHEAP KNOCK OFF’S! Haven’t we seen the same form factor since the instinct HD? Plus, stop using cheap material. It kind of sucks we have to pay high prices for cheap material. Your lucky we’re not playing Halo. I would have executed you bastards and tea-baged each and every one of you till my balls fall off. I talk too damn much.

http://Website Lucian Armasu

Gingerbread has support for higher resolutions, so it better come with a 1280×800 or a similar HD resolution. Nexus S must set a standard like the Nexus One did, not only with a dual core, but also with an HD resolution. I’m not even considering getting a new phone with a 800×480 resolution anymore. Also I wish Samsung would start making 4.3″ phones, too.

Does anyone know if Super AMOLED has the subpixel issue that normal AMOLED has? That issue would basically make the real resolution 33% smaller and the phone less clear than an LCD, so I hope they fixed it if it ever had tht problem, or they better fix it for Super AMOLED 2.

http://Website Paul

4.3″ is to big 4″ max for a phone.

http://Website Gee

1280×800? Yea, right. Tablet displays aren’t even coming in at that resolution. The closest thing we’ll get is 1024×640 and that’s still a higher resolution than the Galaxy Tab. Apps probably won’t even support that resolution – they have to carry QVGA/HVGA/WVGA graphics files and now this higher resolution? You’ll probably see a lot of spaced out / zoomed out apps for a while.

http://Website Lucian Armasu

A 4.3″ screen with a 1280×720 resolution had 340 PPI. iPhone 4 has 330. If they want to compare with iPhone 4 in this, they will do it. As for the apps, it’s the same as with iPhone apps moving from 480×320 to 960×640. It’s not that big of a deal. Of course developers will have to update their apps, but only for the resolution, the graphics files will scale up.

http://Website Valerio

Btw, Taylor, your the man. And when your the man, you have super balls. I assure you, America loves balls……BAWHAHAHAHA

http://Website May

Fag.

http://Website Raveesh

Ugghh… Taylor your killing me. Yesterday you say I’ll be able to get this by Thanksgiving, now that seems highly unlikely. I need a phone this month, yet I want this phone. What on earth do I do? Will some Google/Samsung official just come out and let the world know already! This is excruciating!

http://adomanico01.blogspot.com/ Anthony Domanico

Do you already have an Android phone?

If so, you should be just fine waiting another month.

http://Website Raveesh

No I don’t :(

I’ve been waiting a long time to get off my Nokia N95, and if I buy by the end of the month I’d my sis can get it for me to India. If there’s no real information out by then, I’d have to settle for something else, but that’s gonna hurt so bad. I know a better phone’s always around, but a new Nexus isn’t always around

http://Website Aakash

I so understand you!

http://Website Manuel

Aluminum = dents

I hope it will be a good plastic material.

falmc

My contract is up on the 2nd of December with Tmobile UK and originally I was just waiting for the HTC desire HD as to me it was the best and most beautiful phone out there. However with all these sexy rumours of dual cores and super improved android UI I am very persuaded to the thought of getting a Samsung although the shell itself really does have a nice aesthetic appeal to me, its all about the hardware in the end ;]

http://Website Simon

I can’t use this shitty nokia phone anymore (lost my HTC Dream on the slopes) so untill the Nexus S is released, i’m gonna buy a Huawei IDEOS (cheap) which will be fine till then.

http://Website Lucian Armasu

I don’t care if they make an Orion phone later, but this phone NEEDS to have Tegra 2 to set Tegra platform as a standard for 2011, just like the first Nexus set Snapdragon for 2010. Why? Gaming! Tegra 2 has support for the Unreal 3 engine so there’s a much higher chance more big game developers will come to the Androi platform to make some awesome games.

We’ve already seen what kind of exclusive games will come to the Tegra platform. The more popular this chip becomes, the better for us and for the more games Android platform will get in 2011. The Nexus S can set a standard once again for phones to come in 2011, and that standard should be the dual core Tegra.

http://Website Scott G

The SGX that is supposed to be included with the Orion chipset is supposed to be much better then the tegra 2…

If this is true, and its dual core (if its orion i’m like a giddy kid), i have my wallet open and am ready to buy it. Lets hope that part of the hardware issue was also to support HSPA+ because its a little silly not to. Anyway, if they listened to testers maybe they decided to redesign the ugliest phone i’ve seen in a long time

http://Website tiger4j

I Might be wrong but I think that the Orion is supposed to have a quad core Mali 400 gpu. The sgx line produced by I’m thinking imagination technologies(might be wrong on the name, but its close) was bought by Apple just before the galaxy s came out. I have not heard of anything in the sgx line that can touch what the Orion soc. Is capable of. Just know that the Orion is meant to hang with the Tegra 2. One thing I would like to know though is when game devs. Start producing for tegra2, will they run on equally capable hardware, or are the games specifically designed for that architecture alone? Like the unreal engine, it runs on the hummingbirds slightly smaller cousin, the A4, but android has to come out with dual core T2?

http://Website Albert Park

Wow Taylor! You ARE the man!!

http://Website Usman

Taylor..I’ve been critical in the past.. but you’re making a believer out of me.

http://Website Artar

I hate that you have to defend yourself against a minority of idiots who can’t differentiate pre-release rumors and post-release cold hard facts. Great article, keep up the good work.

â€¢RÎ­Å§Å—Ä§Ã° ÊÉ›â€¢

Top notch reporting here… The added touch of “Warning” in the preface, class!

masterpfa

Easy solution to all this. Realese Gingerbread to the masses on the Nexus One (oops yes I do have a Nexus One!) and then release Gingerbread 2.3.1 Dual Core when both the Nexus S and Gingerbread Dual Core are ready. Simples!!!!!

http://Website fnirt

I have some serious concerns about Samsung being involved. Their GPS hardware technology just doesn’t compare to HTC. And without a confident and properly working GPS our mobile experience can be horribly frustrating. (Do love their camera, however)

Samsung also has a rough track record with upgrade release times. Even if it’s like the N1 (which I love) waiting on a driver update from Samsung could kill the “straight from Google” factor.

I’m also reminded of the CPU speed wars of the early 90′s. If you wait for the Next Great Release there will always be a Next Greater Release. You can wait forever or pick something and stick with it. I guess I’ll wait and see how they shake out once they get out in the wild.

http://Website JahmeZZ

Taylor, More & More I’m being converted to this site as my primary source of Android news. Keep up the good work! Didn’t know that Gingerbread & Honeycomb was being developed simultaneously. It’s good to know anyways! Does that mean that Honeycomb will strictly be a Tablet OS? I’m excited for technology & Android! Show them what your made of Google! Keep up the good work Android and Me!

http://Website James!

Let’s hope they take this time to give it a better exterior design than those leaked pictures show.

http://Website Freer

Thank you google! You did the right thing in your decision to put next generation hardware in this phone. I’m very excited about this phone now. I’m poor as hell right now but I can promise that I’ll have this phone in my hands the day it’s released! Gathering together my stuff to sell on ebay today lol.

this is exactly what i want. give me hspa+, samoled, dualcore,vanilla android with updates being handled by google, great battery life…where do i sign?

http://Website warrenbzf

I’d pay a good deal more for sAMOLED

http://Website Miguel

I’m sorry Taylor bur I think you let your imagination and wishlist get ahead of you here. I’m not convinced most of this is true.

The reason I feel that way is because your sources are basically laying the reasons for this delay at the delay of Samsung, and not Google. Something doesn’t add up here.

Your article states continually states that “Samsung decided this” and “Samsung decided that”. You claim that Samsung decided to make it a dual core because of testers complaints. The problem with this is that logic dictates that Samsung has real final say on anything with this phone. I don’t think this is accurate. Google basically piles a bunch of cash on a table and gives Samsung the specs it wants for its Nexus phone, and Samsung complies with whatever Google request (and PAYS for). We saw it with the Nexus One. When you boot up your Nexus One, does it say “HTC” in big letters? Have you ever heard HTC really publically discuss the Nexus One much? When you needed support for your N1, did you go to HTC or Google?

Samsung already has it’s own roadmap for dual core phones, and it’s own Touchwiz overlay that it is pushing. Why would it care if Google’s Nexus phone can’t compete with Samsung’s own new dual core phone coming our in early 2011?

If it’s true that the phone was delayed to add dual-core processors, then it was Google that did it because ultimately this is a Google-phone, not really a Samsung promoted phone, regardless of the fact that it will say Samsung on the back, much like you see a small “HTC” on the back of your N1.

And I just don’t see Google changing it’s requested specs at the last minute, especially since it’s Gingerbread team never designed the OS to run on dual-cores. It would appear very amateurish and short-sighted by Google to make such a hasty decision at the 11th hour.

Google uses the Nexus series to spotlight vanilla Android. Why would a manufacturer like Samsung (or HTC) basically work against their own business model by doing this? Because Google is a a powerfully influential company that is paying good money, not to mention it improves direct cooperation between the two companies. Look how HTC exploded in growth after the G1 and Nexus One. Samsung wants a piece of that action.

But Google is paying the bill for the Nexus S, and I think it gets the final say on what the final product will be.

http://Website Alex

Actually Taylor doesn’t say anything about Samsung deciding it needed a dual-core, what he said was: “when someone decided it needed to feature a dual-core processor in order to compete with the Tegra 2 phones coming out in early January.”

When I read that, I read Google. Make no mistake about Google, they know what they’re doing. They were man enough to admit that the business model for the Nexus One wasn’t ideal and pulled the plug on it. I’ll put my trust in Google to deliver a great phone.

Another thing to point out to everyone who for some odd reason thinks the Nexus 2 can’t be real because of what Eric Schmidt said in July….technically what he said was “It was so successful we didn’t need to do another one.” That’s completely different from “We’re not going to do another one.”

http://Website anthony

@Miguel i hear where u coming from just one thing if there is a problem with the N1 you go to HTC for help Google is not involved in that. I may be wrong but I thought u implied that google handled that. N1 owner certified fact.

http://Website JaylanPHNX

Im going to predict that Android 2.3 will quickly be followed by Android 2.3.x, optimized for dual core.

http://Website Thed

Why is there an Android QR code on the back? My guess is that there’s a unique code for each phone, when “scanning” it with another phone’s camera you will get a file with contact information which you can save to your phone. You should also be able to change your contact information by editing the qr-code’s information somehow… Just an idea, probably not the case though…

Hopefull Samsung and T-MOBILE will make sure this baby is HSPA+ ready too!! :)

http://Website mikexg

Hey Taylor,
I think you’re right about the orchestrated leak…
notice the branding on dude’s keyboard in those leaked pics.
im not too familiar with Samsung’s PC keyboards but that just caught my eye.
even if they brand all their retail keyboards with “Corporation”, its still worth noting that hes outfitted with samsung gear in his office. IDK, seems like a keyboard that someone who worked for Samsung would definitely be using anyway.

http://Website sean

Hopefully while theyre changing the processor…..they take out that 7.2 radio in it and put the 4g radio in it that the g2 and mytouch 4g have. I mean this is going to tmobile and it is a high end android device. If this phone has the same measley 7.2 radio in it that my vibrant has then I just may hold off. I dont want old tech in my new phones.

http://Website fort

Great story. Hope this phone comes out soon. Any word on the N1 update?

http://Website Ben Tolmachoff

I bet Google regrets giving the Nexus to Samsung and not back to HTC…

http://Website Virtue

What’s there to regret? Sure, HTC has their fantastic designs but what does Samsung have? Let’s start with Super AMOLED and work our way into better processors, better gpus, and virtually all around better hardware than HTC. Google wants to be on the cutting edge and HTC was the company back when the Nexus One launched but who’s the best in terms of hardware now? Samsung.

http://www.evilandroid.com POTUS

Thats why me and all of my friends got an iPhone from Apple. Android always finds a way to fugg it up!

http://Website Virtue

I nearly jumped out of my seat in Organic Chemistry when I read this. I can’t wait!

http://Website ANDEEE

I heard Nexus S will come with regular Hspa not Hspa+ (don’t know if they are going to switch out the radio while at fixing it with dual core)

A wise plan, android and samsung cant compete with the mighty invincible iPhone. I have an iPhone and the Nexus One was inferior to the incredible iPhone already. Good luck boys, you need it badly!

http://Website ANDEEE

Have you been living in a deep deep cave?????

http://Website Nathan

I am an iphone user. The Nexus One was far better than the Iphone 3GS which was the current iphone of the time. Yes the Iphone 4 is better than the nexus one, but not by much. I am so ready to jump ship and switch to this. I have done lots of research and I am just drooling at the thought of getting my hands on a Nexus S if the specs turn out to be what we hope they will be.

http://wsinetspecialists.com Will

I’m gonna hold out for this one if:

1. It has dual core (hopefully you’re right)
2. It has HSPA+
3. It looks better in person than that spy pic. Looks a bit clunky.

C’Mon!!!

http://Website DgDeBx

Engadget reported that two very similar Nexus S candidates passed the FCC, the GT-i9020, and the GT-i9020T. Could one of these be the old single-core version and one of them the new double-core version?

http://Website DgDeBx

Comment

http://Website Cod3rror

Taylor, Google is optimizing Gingerbread for dual core but do you know if Gingerbread uses Hardware UI Acceleration too?

If it does, combined with Dual Cortex-A9, Mali 400 and probably 768-1GB of RAM the phone should be incredibly smooth and fast!

http://Website zymo

Just to Recap: there was a nexus one running with a single-core hummingbird processor,which should be released on 8th/11th november. But somebody decided to put a dual-core processor into the nexus s and improve the specs. so the nexus s gets delayed.
What i dont understand is, if the original nexus s was planed to be released in mid november, how long would it take to implement and test a new processor in a device before releasing it? I am not an engineerer, but is it really that simple to change the processor and having stabile running system? I would guess it would take several weeks or maybe month to be sure the new system is ready to launch. (sorry fot the bad english)

http://Website ACR

Samsung is ahead of Google with the Tab and now this.

http://Website ACR

Tegra 2 GPU is pretty slow with only 27FPS in Neocore on Toshiba AC100. I don’t get all the fuzz about Tegra 2.

A friend recomended me to wait before I go ahead and update to the mytouch 4g. I’ll play my luck and hope that htc comes with dualcore phone that puts to shame on the motorola droid.

http://Website Peyton Manning

What an ugly phone, my new iPhone 4 looks so much nicer!

http://Website zymo

that is so funny! one of the first things you learn about humans in psychology is Cognitive dissonance. you bought an expensive quite good looking phone, which some nice specs and NOW you saw this baby, the nexus s, the next generation of super high-end smartphone. I dont say iphone is crap, if you like it good for you, if dont sell it and stop posting so premature comments please. by the way if you are apple “fanboy” why you are surfing on an website about android? just think about it! get it? the answer is “Cognitive dissonance!

http://Website sean

Nooooooo!
I want a port of stock gingerbread from the Nexus S to my Captivate D:

http://Website Joey

Great information everyone! I am not one of those people who are up-to-date on every cutting edge technology release in the smartphone industry, in fact I am just starting to learn about all of this. I just wanted to thank everyone for sharing what you phone. I do have a question though, one that many see really relevant to many of you, but it is a question I would like to ask. How much do you guys think this is gunna cost haha. I have been putting off buying a smartsphone for a while now due to the data plan charges. It has come to the point where its almost unavoidable, and I am about to make the switch. I am definitely going to wait for the Nexus S, but is there an average, or normal price for these phones, ( with or without a contract). Also since this phone is a Google phone, will it definitely be sold through google’s website, as well as the carrier?

http://Website zymo

i don’t think the nexus s is going to be sold only through google’s website. they did it with the nexus one and that was a bad decision of google in terms of sales. people want to go to a store and have some hand on the device. the nexus s is a going to be a next generation high-end phone, so don’t expect it’s going to be cheap. just have look at the prices of the high-end devices already being on the market like htc desire, motorola droid 2…

Virtue

One of the first leaks of the Nexus S was on Best Buy when they even posted a picture. This definitely means that the Nexus S will be sold through Best Buy. Also, judging by the previous Nexus which costed $179 on contract and $530 without, the Nexus S should be within those price ranges. It could cost a little more though due to the dual core processor but since it is made of plastic it shouldn’t cost that much more.

http://Website g1-and-only

It better have noise cancellation and at lease 8mp, no steps backwards

http://Website TareX

It better have a non-plastic case to match the delicious insides.

http://Website zymo

does anybody know if the leaked pictures of the nexus s shows the the singlecore or dualcore version?

if it has the orion there is no need to wait. the orion is an absolute monster.

http://Website TareX

I’ve been fantasizing about Tegra 2 for a couple of years…. but even I know that ORION will trump it (esp. in the graphical performance dept). I’m only concerned about battery life here. If it’s comparable to Tegra 2′s, then ORION it will be.

http://Website TareG

YES. YES. YES.
I know for a fact that Orion will trump Tegra 2 in performance. But for me it’s all about battery life. I am a bit hesitant and would likely wait till the first reviews of battery life on both Orion and Tegra 2 kick in….

http://Website BiGMERF

OMG, OMG OOMG! This is going to be awesome! I cannot wait!

http://Website ACR

Wow, if the original Hummingbird is at least 2X faster than Tegra 2. This thing is said to be 5X faster than the Hummingbird if it has the Orion chip. It would be 10X faster than Tegra 2 in games.

You can see the lag in Tegra 2. Orion processor coming out with 5X the performance of the Hummingbird in Galaxy Tab. It’s not even close.

http://Website Andrew Gomez

One if the best articles on any tech site I’ve read…bar none. Great job, Taylor.

http://Website Jack C

I wonder if the reports of the convex screen have something to do with sAMOLED2?

Oli

Grrr im due an upgrade at very end of December

Google/Samsung I need a release date!!!

http://Website Mayoo

I am stuck with HTC Diamond (my 3rd) and I always had problems with it. HTC’s support is very friendly but they won’t admit they’ve made a buggy cell phone. I hope the Nexuss S release is early. I wanted to get Nexus One from Videotron (same band as T-Mobile) next weekend but I think I’ll wait a little more.

Or maybe I’ll just get blind with rage at my current phone, throw it at a brick wall and force myself to get the Nexus One.

What should I do ? Nexus One next weekend or wait for Nexus S ?

Note : The brick wall WILL happend ;)

http://Website RJ

So as it turned out, everything posted by Engadget was true, and nothing posted here was. Nothing. retraction?

http://Website kenny

I guess your source was wrong?

http://Website TareX

EPIC source fail. I trusted you guys, and bashed Engadget…. I guess I made the wrong choice. So, no retraction/apology/explanation?